I’m trying to add fills to my guitar playing. Currently, I’m playing an open G chord on beat 1 and playing a major pentatonic fill on strings G, B, and e during the rest of the bar.
Here are my questions:
Should I use upstrokes and downstrokes during the fill? The strumming pattern if I were playing chords instead of a fill would be DDUUDU. Should I use all down picks during the fill? Should I pick up if I’m moving from e to B or B to G, and pick down if I’m moving from G to B or B to e? Should I try to match my strumming pattern and use down picks if the strumming pattern would have been a down strum, and use up picks if the strumming pattern would have been an up strum?
The fills I’ve improvised so far usually involve moving back and forth through adjacent notes. I’ve read that this is boring and predictable.
For example:
G chord then, on the e string, frets 3, 3, 0, 3.
I’ve also experimented with slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, and moving to an adjacent string, but it’s mostly going from one note to an adjacent note in the scale.
Can you give me any tips on what you do?
Is there a lesson on the website that covers these questions? I searched for fills and found and watched the lesson “MAYFIELD & HENDRIX STYLE FILLS,” but that seems more complicated than what I’m trying to do.
Maybe try chord notes in triads on strings 1-3. If you play 3 3 0 3, that’s g, g e, g. May sound off as e isn’t in a g chord. Not sure, but if you stick to chord notes you should be ok
The e is the 6th and is part of the major pentatonic, so it should work just fine. Although chord tones are always a good ideas.
I like double stops for fills, but it depends on the feel and want you want to achieve.
Keep it simple, and don’t over do it would be my advice.
Generally speaking I’d try and stick to down strokes on the beat and upstrokes on the off beat unless there are good reasons not to. This will help you keep time while you’re playing the fills.
It’s more important to stay in time than whether or not you’re picking up or down. A good place to start is figure out where you are playing the notes. If you’re picking out the fills in 8th notes you can pick all down if you like but to help keep you timing you should try and pick the notes on the beat with down picking and the notes one the and with up picking.
If your fill starts on a and/up stroke try and keep with anup pick. If your fill is in 16th notes the same will apply.
Once your comfortable keeping in time then add slides and hammer-ons.
Don’t worry about it being boring at first. Boring and in time is way better than random notes that don’t fit or make sense. It could help to play to a metronome, backing track or looper to keep time. If using a looper make sure your loop is in time or you’ll be practicing mistakes.
What picking you do for a fill or riff or lick, rrealy depends on it and what works best. I am on my second time through Blues Immersion )BLIM) and it became equite apparent the some licks were harder if you stuck to strict up down or alternating picking. In fact if you did this then it could become very difficult to play the next bar, because of rhythm changes etc.
So I would say create you riff and do what fits and feels right.
In this example, try playing the G triad on DGB only…you may find your fills come alot more naturally, and upstrokes/ down strikes will just happen without thinking about them.
That G triad sits right in the middle of the Major pentatonic, sounds good, and there are lots of good easy embellishments all around…the 6, b7, sus4 etc…
You can go higher in the G triad if you want…play it on the GBE strings etc…
Try adding those notes in WHILE you strum - and then if you wanna pick them out - use the direction teh pick would be travelling if you kept strumming - downs oin the beats and up in between - this will get you going
